are they close to a breakthrough >> announcer: this is "nbc dozens of grocery store workers nightly news" with who caught the virus, doctors lester holt. good evening maintain social distancing is saving lives. some encouraging >> keep a safe patterns in distance of six covid-19 cases along feet. >> reporter: in with a restless craving for georgia drones are reminding normalcy residents to keep their distance are fueling discussions on how while in philadelphia a man was and when to restart removed from a bus parts of the american economy after arguing with the driver when he refused to wear a face governors in seven covering easter states in detroit, at henry and three western ford health states tonight system, roughly 1,000 working together to employees map out a cautious way forward have the virus as near los angeles, the president trump family of asserts it's his call to make 20-year-old valaria that debate underway says she lost her life a week as the after death toll from the virus in the getting sick. u.s. >> what can i say? tops 23,000. it's shocking, you know now in the middle of it's shocking. it all, tragedy doubling down on parts >> reporter: with a of the south in the sailor who form of deadly tornados. our team has it all covered. served aboard the "uss we begin with gabe theodore gutierrez. roosevelt" among those who died >> reporter: tonight after contracting the as powerful winds and heavy rain virus, pound the nine states have more nation's epicenter of than the 20,000 confirmed cases pandemic, a break in the on but in going storm. hard-hit illinois positive signs while the death toll of a slowing spread. has topped 10,000 in new york across the border in state, icu missouri, admissions and intubation are dropping the number of newly home after they were

hospitalized patients is the lowest all it's been in two weeks. infected. >> thank you, thank >> the worst can be you, thank over and it you. is over unless we do something >> reporter: jane wine reckless. house and >> reporter: governor her house michael are now out of andrew cuomo is clashing the icu. publicly with bill de blasio on whether the >> it was extremely new york city mayor scary. has the authority to close especially for jane on schools a through the remainder ventilator because i of the academic year. wasn't so it was extremely scary. >> it is not shocking >> reporter: with our that nation still in crisis, there sometimes there is are differences of perspective. promising signs of better days ahead. >> reporter: today this 93-year-old grandmother in strong winds threatened this field pittsburgh going viral hospital with her in central park, and forced a playful request for closure of several beer in long island when testing facilities across the region arian that is an icu nurse at korean war veteran herb burger couldn't northshore university join family and friends to hospital who brings ipads to her sickest celebrate his 90th patients to help them contact birthday, with their loved ones. local police brought a parade to his front door >> i was holding the and there is more ipad and i positive news was holding her hand here in l.a. county and i'm hysterical crying in where the all my number of new cases is gear the lowest it's been in a my glasses are all month but that stay-at-home foggy and i order has been extended in this area was just like oh my through may 15th lester gosh, like >> yeah, this isn't close to how am i going to handle doing being over miguel, thanks very much. as discussions this for multiple intensify over how to ramp up people the economy, >> reporter: one of many governors and the her patients

died on sunday. president's own health experts >> just holding his hand, warn it can't happen at once. peter alexander is at the white playing the video and house. crying >> reporter: president that's like kind of trump the perfect tonight eagerly eyeing what he's called a big bang to scene of what it looks restart the like when economy as early as we're in there. may 1st expressing optimism. >> we're getting rid of the >> reporter: among the lives lost, william pledge sullivan, a beloved police it's a plague on our country detective in yonkers. like nobodies ever seen. >> reporter: dr. anthony was one of the best sports photographers anthony fauci in new york city envisioning a for decades kim had rolling reentry, been a possibly next mailman in the bronx. month. >> it's not going to >> we were just hoping be a light switch we say okay, it for the is now june, july or whatever click, the light best, but in the end, switch goes they said back on. that he isn't going to >> reporter: the cdc make it director cautions against moving too past today. quickly. >> reporter: at this rate, >> it's going to be a covid-19 is killing as step by step gradual process many new that's got to be data driven. yorkers in three days >> reporter: among the as the keys to safely getting back to business seasonal flu typically does in according to public an entire year gabe gutierrez, nbc health news, new york experts, a major i'm miguel almaguer increase in tests to see who has the virus. wide use of an tonight the director antibody test to determine who may have for the cdc already had it and immunity and contact says the coronavirus tracing to isolate epidemic could peak in days people who interacted with someone who is top doctors believe infected the deadly vice president mike outbreak stabilized but warn of pence today

asking governors for hot spots and help clusters ramping up testing with concerns in south dakota at testing machines still are not smith field foods, hundreds have the virus. running anywhere near full capacity. >> we're testing >> increasing in people there testing is more at a higher rate. continuing on a daily basis, and it is going to need to be in place in order for us to effectively reopen. >> reporter: after weeks saying it was up to governors to impose stay-at-home orders, president trump is now insisting he has the sole power to decide how and when states reopen tweeting it is the decision of the president and for many good reasons but most legal experts disagree arguing the president does not have the authority to direct states to lift their emergency orders tonight, the governors of seven northeastern states that represent more than half of the nation's coronavirus cases are banning together to outline the steps they will take to ease restrictions three western states doing the same. >> this has to be informed by experts and data you take one step forward and see how it works and measure the next step.

>> reporter: also making headlines, president trump's retweet with a #fire fauci after dr. fauci acknowledged more lives could have been saved if the country could have been shut down earlier. >> there was a lot of push back shutting things down back then. >> reporter: late tonight when the president called fauci to the podium he said that was the wrong choice of words and the president took his advice and president trump said he is not firing dr. fauci, lester >> peter, thank you. we'll have much more ahead on those three keys to unlock the country including the way apple and google are teaming up to track the virus. right now we want to tell you other major headlines five days after he ended his presidential campaign, senator bernie sanders today endorsed former vice president joe biden as the two appeared in a video sanders told biden we need you in the white house and said he'll do all he can to make that happen. also tonight, the tornado disaster in the middle of this

pandemic 130 million people are under wind alerts from florida to maine after dozens of twisters killed at least 33 people in the south. our morgan chesky in the storm zone tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the south facing a disaster nightmare. >> i see it. >> reporter: more than 50 reported tornados since sunday. >> all i heard was like a loud roaring sound and a lot of cracking sound. >> reporter: in louisiana willie grayson's family was watching an easter service when the tornado struck. >> i'm telling my kids get under the bed. yelling for my wife. the roof falling off trying to run to me and the whole roof flew up. >> reporter: this home ripped off its foundation stopping drivers in their tracks after being tossed into the road nbc's blayne alexander is in georgia. >> i heard that train

noise. get in the closet. run in and the trailer was coming up. >> reporter: with you inside >> with us both inside. >> got a funnel cloud in front of me. >> reporter: in mississippi a tornado so powerful, radar captured debris thrown up to 60 miles away the damage these storms leave behind forces a tough call, how to enforce stay-at-home orders for a virus when hundreds have no house to go home to. >> would typically go to a school gymnasium or something like that set up as a shelter. we're trying to get people into hotel rooms. suspended. images inside storm shelters capturing people doing whatever they can to social distance and tonight, this storm system that caused so much damage here has now taken a turn heading north up the eastern seaboard where it could cause even more problems lester >> all right morgan, thank you.

we'll be back in 60 seconds with those desperately needed relief checks finally going out and if you haven't gotten yours yet, how you can get it faster.

the first wave of those much anticipated relief checks for many americans has finally started to roll out but if you're one of the millions still waiting, stephanie ruhle explains how to get yours faster. >> reporter: bumper to bumper traffic for miles waiting to get into food banks. as millions of suddenly unemploymented americans struggle to get food on the table. >> we have to do this to survive. louis and honolulule staffed by volunteers, traffic cops and the national guard. >> i had a lady yesterday with four little kids in the car and she said, i'm a waitress and i don't have any food. >> reporter: people aren't just there for food. >> almost every parent who has to come and ask for diapers, you can feel this and see this just like fear and worry. >> reporter: in texas,

6,000 cars waited to get into this san antonio owe center, many camping out overnight. >> when they see that box of food coming into the car, some of them smile and some of them cry. >> we're seeing them from all income levels because when somebody gets laid off and the income stops coming in, even if they may have a fancy car, fancy house, they're going to be hungry. >> reporter: demand is up, inventories have plummeted. >> it's devastating. it's something that none of us could have ever predicted. >> reporter: farmers across america have no way to ship their food to the places that need it most kerry sanders is in florida. >> reporter: food banks are overwhelmed with demand and farmers in florida in the middle of harvest are heart broken because the logistics don't exist to get fresh corn, green beans and vegetables to those who need it. instead, it's all being plowed under. >> reporter: for many families in need, help is on the way. stimulus checks are

now being distributed for anyone making less than $99,000 a year you get the full $1200 if you're salary is under $75,000 and an additional $500 for every child. for those who filed taxes using direct deposit, the money should hit soon paper checks are expected to start getting mailed in may if you didn't have to file taxes, you can enter your bank information at irs.gov. the irs will launch a website to allow you to track your status. they are discussing another stimulus package, there are many americans worried about mounting bills. for the time being, take advantage of relief programs and call your lenders to find out more lester >> stephanie, thanks very much. most health experts agree opening the country and stopping the spread of coronavirus is testing and there are developments tonight on a test that can tell if you've had the virus and may now be immune. >> reporter: with much of

america shut down, tonight the promise of progress. new covid-19 glad tests called antibody tests could help get some americans back to work dr. margaret zang just took one in new york. >> having antibodies and knowing i'm as immune as one could be to covid right now makes me feel more inclined to serve. >> reporter: ucla began using its own version of antibody testing focussing on thousands of medical workers. >> how do we expect health work force to be protecting us if we're not doing everything that we can to protect them >> reporter: the concept is simple if you've had covid-19 and recovered, it's because of special antibodies in your immune system that developed to fight it off and those will likely protect you from future infections in the case of medical workers, those with antibodies could become super soldiers in the fight against covid-19. >> i think the health care workers who know they

have antibodies will be able to go into the work more confident they're not going to be getting themselves sick or passing this virus on to others around them. >> reporter: other tests are being given to the general public in los angeles, as well. 64-year-old debra presley had her finger pricked within minutes she learned she had antibodies to fight off coronavirus. when you found out you had the antibodies, what went through your mind? >> i'm a caregiver and i go to different people's homes and it's such a relief because now i can help other people. >> reporter: now dozens of labs all across the country are working on their own antibody tests. last week, the trump administration said they are working to make antibody testing free and widely available. >> starting within the next week or so, we'll be able to scale up the kind of antibody testing to give you a good feel for what the penetration of the infection is but you can start to think about some aspect of getting back to normal without having tested everybody in the country. that's for sure. >> reporter: the fda commissioner warning not every antibody test is accurate.

>> no test is 100% perfect but we don't want wildly inaccurate tests. >> reporter: the diagnostic coronavirus tests, 1% of the population has been tested just a fraction of what experts say is needed to get a clear sense of how many people may be infected for now making complete contact tracing still out of reach. something authorities say is vital for stopping the virus' spread and lester, tonight, apple and google unveiling new plans for a voluntary app that would basically alert you if you've come into contact with a known carrier. both companies stressing tonight that privacy is their top concern. lester >> all right gadi schwartz tonight, thank you. up next, our exclusive look at a potentially life-saving treatment. tonight, the surprising results

well, researchers around the world focus on finding a vaccine, there is also an urgent effort to develop more immediate treatment. tonight we have an exclusive look at a drug trial with early but encouraging news here is tom costello. >> reporter: at the icu floor a drug trial for a potential lifesaver. doctors prescribing remdesivir the emery trial is one of the largest in the world infectious disease expert dr. meta is the chief investigator. >> whoa we're searching for is medication to help people get over the infection more rapidly and allow their immune

systems to really kick in and knock the virus out of their body. >> reporter: it could be far more effective in treating covid-19 it's a double blind nih study meaning patients and doctors don't know who gets a placebo. >> we've seen lots of patients recovering, a study drug or but placebo, we don't know. >> reporter: in washington state icu doctors gave remdesivir. >> reporter: researchers could be two to three weeks away from a major breakthrough determining whether it should be the go-to treatment in hospitals meanwhile, doctors are increasingly cautious about an unproven treatment touted by president trump.

hydroxychloroquine with an antibiotic researches noticed some had cardiac arrhythmia and died heard president trump talk up. >> they say i don't want an experimental drug, i want the drug on the news. >> reporter: if approved, drug maker gilead says it could treat 100,000 immediately and half a million by october lester. >> tom costello tonight, thank you. up next, beating the odds, inspiring so many others every financial plan needs a cfp® professional --

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finally, he survived his harrowing battle with coronavirus and now a heart warming celebration. here is steve patterson. >> reporter: this easter sunday a california hospital resinating with waves of applause for 50-year-old ramon who fought the coronavirus and won after spendi >> i seemed to exist but i really wasn't sure if i existed. i didn't know if i had passed on or not. >> reporter: for over a month, icu doctor alex hakim documented the journey and in a way his own. >> i don't know if i have the words to express how i feel i'll remember it for the rest of my life. >> reporter: for ramon, he's grateful for the gift

of life. >> i've managed to beat this, but all the credit goes to them, all the nurses, all the doctors. >> you gave them hope. [ cheers ] >> reporter: hope, that's what doctors and nurses who saved ramon will carry with them as they head back to the front lines. steve patterson, nbc news, los angeles. that's the kind of beautiful moments we want to see more of. that is "nightly news" for this monday i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other >> john: i feel terrible for kayla because i know how it felt when i found you in that house and you had no memory of our love. >> marlena: but i that's why you were able to reach me. and steve--steve's love for

kayla is inside him. >> john: well, knowing kayla the way i do and knowing how much steve and kayla loved each other, i'm sure she's gonna find a way. >> kayla: i wanted so badly to speak my vows but the words just wouldn't come, so you put up your hands like this and you signed for me to have courage. you gave me the strength on our wedding day and you gave me the courage to come back to you. now, i need you to have the same courage and the same strength to remember what we meant to each other. >> marta: i'm sorry, miss dimera, but i'm going to have to insist. >> kristen: no! you're not taking her.

she's sleeping and i don't want anyone to upset her. i just--i need to hold her just a little while longer. >> brady: what is it you have to tell me? i mean, is this about your--your big secret or did kristen do something horrible that you need to tell me about or what--what is it? >> eric: no. br >> xander: why isn't she picking up? >> justin: i wouldn't panic. >> xander: what if something happened on her way back from the prison? what if she had an accident? >> justin: well, i could call rafe. >> xander: i just want her to be all right. >> justin: oh. >> xander: there you are. finally.

>> sarah: you think that our baby was switched with someone else's? >> eric: i know that's what happened. she doesn't belong to us. >> sarah: that's crazy. that's--that's crazy, eric. then whose baby is it? >> eric: brady and kristen. >> xander: you scared me. i thought maybe you were getting cold feet. what is it? what's wrong? >> male announcer: like sands through the hourglass,